Lucius Verus, in full Lucius Aurelius Verus, also called (136–161 ce) Lucius Ceionius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus, original name Lucius Ceionius Commodus (born Dec. 15, 130—died 169) Roman emperor jointly (161–169) with Marcus Aurelius. Though he enjoyed equal constitutional status and powers, he did not have equal authority, nor did he seem capable of bearing his share of the responsibilities.

Lucius was the son of a senator, Lucius Ceionius Commodus, whom the emperor Hadrian adopted as his successor under the name Lucius Aelius Caesar. When Ceionius died on Jan. 1, 138, Hadrian designated Antoninus Pius as his successor. He ordered Antoninus to adopt as his heirs Ceionius’s son Lucius and his own nephew Marcus Annius Verus (the future emperor Marcus Aurelius), who was also given the title caesar. Marcus insisted that his adoptive brother be given the same status and powers as himself, except for the title pontifex maximus (high priest). Lucius then dropped the name Commodus and assumed Marcus’s original cognomen of Verus. In 164 he married Marcus’s daughter, Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla, with whom he had several children. When sent to deal with Parthian conquests in Armenia and Mesopotamia (162–166), Lucius dallied in Antioch while subordinate generals concluded the war. He celebrated a triumph jointly with Marcus in October 166 and assumed the names Armeniacus, Parthicus, and Medicus (as conqueror of the Armenians, Parthians, and Medes).

Marble head of the co-emperor Lucius Verus, Roman, c. 166–170 ce; in the Metropolitan …

Photograph by philophilosopher. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Rogers Fund, 1913 (13.227.1)

In 167 or 168 Verus campaigned with Marcus Aurelius in the vicinity of Pannonia against a German people, the Marcomanni, but he died of a stroke on the march home.

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